Apparatus for use in unwinding yarn



A g- 1953 P. w. MARKWOOD APPARATUS FOR USE IN UNWINDIN YARN Filed Feb. 2, 1950 INVENTOR fiazzZlZ/IMW v ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 25, 1953 APPARATUS FOR USE IN UNW'INDING YARN Paul W. Markwood, Lowland, Tenn., assignor to American Enka Corporation, Enka, N. 0., a corporation of Delaware Application February 2, 1950, Serial No. 142,010

2 Claims. (01. 242128) This invention relates to apparatus for detecting the direction of twist of the component yarn of a yarn body during the overend unwinding thereof when the yarn body is placed on the unwinding machine is a pre-arranged order either unwinding clockwise or counter-clockwise whereby the delivery to customers of yarn twisted in the wrong direction is prevented without resort to frequent and expensive inspection procedures.

In the pot spinning of rayon yarn, twist is imparted to the yarn during spinning incident to the rotation of the pot relative to the funnel. Naturally the direction of the twist is dependent upon the direction of rotation of the pot so that, for one direction of rotation, Z twist is produced and, for the other, 5 twist is produced. The conventional pot spinning machine is so constructed that the motors which drive the pots can be reversed by actuation of a foot lever by the operator. This is necessary in order to provide an electrical break for stopping the pot during dofi ng, but, because of it, cakes are sometimes spun which have a direction of twist opposite to that sought to be produced. Moreover, cakes having the opposite twist, may be inadvertently mixed up in the spinning room.

In order to eliminate customer complaints resulting from the inclusion in an order of a few packages of wrongly twisted yarn, continuous inspection has been necessary with resulting cost increases.

It is an object of this invention to overcome the foregoing disadvantages and to provide simple, inexpensive yet reliable apparatus for detecting the direction of twist of the component yarn of a yarn cake whereby expensive inspections are eliminated.

It is contemplated according to this invention to interpose a barb in the path of the yarn balloon as it is drawn overend for further processing so that if the direction of twist or direction of unwinding is opposite to that being sought, breakage will immediately result and the operator will be appraised of the improper twist and will remove and check the offending cake from the group being processed.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide apparatus which is easily interchangeable to detect either 8 or Z twist.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof in conjunction with the annexed drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a rayon cake 2 in condition to be unwound overend, the apparatus of the present invention being shown in position to permit unwinding of thread which has Z twist, when placed in position for unwinding in a predetermined order or counter-clockwise;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the ring, barb and supporting means therefor that constitute one form of this invention; and,

Figure 3 is a View in vertical section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

In Figure l, the numeral Hl designates an ordinary rayon cake such as is produced by the pot spinning process. The body is exteriorly frusto conical and has a centrally-located hollow core, the defining walls of which are generally parallel to the outside walls of the cake and hence are also generally frusto conical, which indicates to the operator the end in which the wooden plug should be placed for unwinding. A cake such as the cake l5 produced according to pot spinning methods, is inherently composed of yarn which is twisted to some extent due to the location of the pot relative to the funnel. When, now, the thread is drawn oiT from the cake in an overend manner, a balloon tends to form and the yarn is said to have an S twist if when held in the vertical position the spirals conform in slope to the central portion of the letter S, and a Z twist if the spirals conform in slope to the central portion of the letter 2. If the particular order to be filled has been Z twisted, the apparatus of the present invention will function to eliminate any cakes accidentally composed of S twisted yarn, because the yarn will be unwound in a clockwise direction by pulling the thread overend, when the cake has been placed on the unwinding machine in the manner in which it was originally spun. The barb H, which is supported from the ring [2 at the top of the cake I0, will cause the yarn to. break. On the other hand, Z twisted yarns will be unwound in a counter-clockwise direction and will slip around the barb II and can be overend collected without interference.

The ring I2 is a simple annulus of wire of a diameter less than the maximum diameter of the cake with which it is to be used, but greater than the inner diameter of that cake. The barb ll extends generally tangentially of the ring for a short distance, as can be seen in Figure 2. The ring is supported by two chordwise extending spokes l3 and It which intersect at right angles and neither of which is diametrical. These chordwise extending spokes are received in complementary chordwise extending grooves in a plug 15 which is seated in the central core of the 3 cake with its face adjacent that end of the cake from which thread is to be withdrawn. A plate [6 is attached by a bolt ll to the plug 15 and this plate serves to hold the spokes I3 and I4 in the grooves of the plug, as can be clearly seen in Figure 3.

In ordinary operations the interior of the cake is socked and a portion of the sock appears at l8 in Figure 1. A usual supporting platform I9 is also provided for the cake according to conventional practice.

By the use of chordwise extending spokes such as [3 and M with complementary grooves in the end face of the plug [5, it is possible to use the same ring E2 and barb for detecting either 8 or Z twist. The apparatus as shown in Figure 1 is arranged to detect Z twist, in other words, to

to permit Z twist to be collected and to cause breakage in the event of S twist. If the reverse condition were sought, it is onlynecessary to remove the bolt I l and take on the ring assembly and reinsert it upside down, in which case the barb I! would extend in the other direction and would serve to detect the opposite direction of twist.

While this invention has been described with respect to pot spun rayon yarn, it is to be understood that it may be applicable to the detection of direction of twistduring unwinding on any type of yarn package where the end of the yarn has been wound onto the package with the package rotating counter-clockwise for S twist, or clockwise for Z twist, as long as it is placed on the unwinding mechanism in a definite pre-arranged order in accordance with the operating regulations which indicate which end of each package should be uppermost to receive the cap.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for detecting the direction of twist of the component yarn of a yarn cake during overend withdrawal of yarn from said cake that comprises a ring having a barb extending generally tangentially from its periphery, said ring having supporting spokes, a plug for insertion in the interior of said cake with an end face adjacent the end of the yarn cake over which the yarn is to be withdrawn, said end face having grooves for the accommodation of said spokes, a disc and detachable means to clamp said disc over said spokes to hold the same in said grooves, and thus to hold the ring over the end of the yarn cake over which the yarn is to be withdrawn.

2. Apparatus for detecting the direction of twist of the component yarn of a yarn cake during overend withdrawal of yarn from said cake that comprises a ring having a barb extending generally tangentially from its periphery, said ring having two supporting spokes extending chordwise thereof and intersecting at right angles, a plug for insertion in the interior of said cake with an end face adjacent the end of the yarn cake over which the arn is to be withdrawn, said end face having grooves for the accommodation of said spokes, a disc and a bolt passing centrally through said disc and core to clamp said disc over said spokes to hold the same in said grooves and thus to hold the ring over the end of the yarn cake over which the yarn is to be withdrawn.

PAUL W. MARKWOOD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 808,114 Rowley et a1. Dec. 26, 1905 2,056,342 Bunker et a1 Oct. 6, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 12,735 Great Britain June 22, 1901 615,515 France Oct. 12, 1926 

